Crazy In Love
by Heart Full of Elves
Summary: Chris falls for the new radio DJ, but he makes a mistake in asking her out. That's basically it. Other characters appear, such as Ed, Maggie and Joel.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Gwen Adams is my character, all others are canon characters from Northern Exposure. I apologise if this is really bad, it's hard to write about American characters when you come from a very different country. This is my third ever fanfiction, so please review! **

* * *

"Hey Chris," said Maggie O'Connell with her usual smile, "how do you feel about Maurice getting someone else to share your job?"

"I… huh?"

Maggie frowned. "You know, he's brought in this woman from Anchorage to do the night show… What's her name again? I met her this morning. Oh that's right – Gwen."

"Who? What? How come he didn't tell me?" Chris ran his hand through his hair, confused.

"That's weird; I thought he would've asked you first. Well, I'm sure you'll meet her soon. Bye, Chris!" she said chirpily, exiting Ruth-Anne's store.

"Bye," said Chris, a little slow since the door had already slammed shut behind her. He paid for his groceries and left the store.

* * *

The next morning Chris was in the studio, putting the next record on, when there was a knock at the door. He gestured for the person to enter, and swung around in his chair. A brown-haired woman entered and he snapped to attention.

"Chris, right? Hi, I'm Gwen," she said, sticking out her hand.

He shook her hand for a bit too long, captivated. She had grey eyes and shoulder length brown hair. She only wore a t-shirt and jeans, nothing special, but he thought she filled her clothes very well, considering that she was tall and curvy.

"H-hi," he stuttered, then cleared his throat. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Gwen."

"And you," she smiled, retracting her hand. "Maurice has told me all about you; it's an honour to meet at last."

"Yeah," said Chris. _It's a shame I can't say the same about you. _"So how did he bribe you to come to Cicely and work for KBHR?"

Gwen laughed. "It wasn't much of a bribe. This position is better paid and has better hours than my last one."

_I'd like to show you a good position_, he thought, and kicked himself for the inappropriate thought.

"Well, I'd better go and start unpacking. It's amazing how much stuff one person can have. I'll see ya round," she called, and left the studio.

Chris didn't even realise that the song had stopped playing until the phone rang, someone with a request.

* * *

As he made himself dinner a few days later, he couldn't help tuning in on her first show for KBHR.

"Good evening Cicely, I'm Gwen-in-the-evening, also known as Gwen Adams. For those of you who don't know, I'm the new DJ for the night show right here on KBHR. Feel free to ring the station for song requests or if you have any questions for me. Here's Blondie with _Call Me_."

Chris could imagine her shaking her head to the music and tapping her fingers on her thigh to the beat.

He listened to her show for the whole night, testing if she was any good. She was, he decided – she had a sultry voice and she played songs that were appropriate for her audience, and she really engaged with her listeners. A few people rang up with requests and asked her stuff about herself. She was kind of sarcastic, he noticed, but funny. Nice wasn't the right word to describe her, but he couldn't think of a word that would suit her.

He fell asleep with her voice whispering to him inside his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

For the next week he listened to her show every night, and every morning he woke up feeling sleep deprived. He would have to turn his radio off earlier each night so he could get enough sleep, he knew.

One evening, he was at The Brick when she came and sat beside him at the bar.

"Hi Chris, how's it going?" she asked in her low voice.

"Hey Gwen, shouldn't you be in the studio?"

She looked at her watch. "Na, I've got another 45. I'll just have a beer," she said to Shelly.

"I've been listening to your show every night," Chris told her. "You're brilliant, the way you segue your songs into one another, and you don't interrupt the flow of the music just for mindless chatter. You're real intelligent; you give your listeners exactly what they want."

She cut him off: "Thanks Chris. You're not bad yourself. I tune in sometimes, whenever I'm awake enough. You sure do read a lot, huh?"

"Yeah," he said. "Sure. How long have you worked in radio?"

Gwen had to think for a moment. "About fifteen years, I guess. It's funny; I never thought I would make a career out of it. I always thought I'd be something better, like a doctor or a lawyer, you know? But I got sucked into radio, and here I am. What about you?"

There was a big paused as Chris thought about what to say. Finally, he decided on the truth: "I've been in radio for a while, yeah. I did time behind bars in West Virginia a long time ago, so that kinda decreased my options."

Gwen merely nodded, as if the idea of talking to an ex-con-turned-DJ didn't faze her at all. She looked at her watch and sighed. "Guess I'd better get to the studio. See ya Chris," she said, finishing off her beer.

_Sexy!_ That was the word, he thought at last.

"What?" she frowned at him.

"Did I say that out loud? Oops, sorry. Don't mind me; I'm always thinking weird things." He slapped his forehead, embarrassed.

"Okay, bye." She flounced out of the bar, jacket over one shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

The next Friday evening, he walked into the studio and watched Gwen for a minute. She was wearing red lipstick and she spoke into the microphone with her slow, sultry voice. She really was irresistible. Once she'd put on the next record, a slow, jazzy song started playing and she turned to speak to him at last.

"What can I do for you, Chris?"

"I was just thinking, since I have tomorrow off, would you like to come back to mine after your show tonight?" he asked, his hands in his jean pockets like a nervous teenager.

She stared at him for a few endless seconds before she started laughing. She laughed much too long for his liking. "Ah, Chris," she said finally, after she'd composed herself. "Thanks for the offer, really. You're a sweet guy, but I just don't go for people with a Y chromosome."

"Oh. Um. Right." For once, he was speechless.

"But that doesn't mean we can't be friends," she offered. "If we're to work together we still need that kind of relationship, right?"

"Right," he said, relief evident on his face. He blew out a breath. "Friends, yeah, I can do that."

"Okay? Good. I'll see you later, in fact I'll give you my number so you can call me," she smiled.

"Okay," he managed to smile back.

* * *

"Ouch, man, that's some rejection," Ed sympathised.

"Yeah. I mean, out of all the people to hit on, I had to choose a lesbian!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, that's not your fault. It's not like she has a sign around her neck saying 'Lesbian'."

"Yeah, but I still should've noticed that she wasn't into me," Chris complained, and took another huge gulp of his beer.

"Maybe," said Ed. "She sure is attractive though. I wouldn't mind her being the Marion to my Indiana Jones."

"It's just not meant to be, is it? When it comes to women, I'm just unlucky in love –" He broke off as Maggie O'Connell came and sat next to Ed.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" she asked in that breezy way of hers.

"Oh, I'm fantastic, Maggie, but I'm afraid Chris is a bit down in the dumps this evening," Ed told her.

"Why's that?" she asked, looking over at Chris.

He slapped the bar and groaned. "I asked a lesbian if she wanted to spend the night at my caravan."

Maggie's eyes widened. "Well, at least – Actually no, I can't think of a positive to that."

"Thanks a lot, Maggie. Even Ed was more supportive than you."

"Evening, all," said Doctor Fleischman, taking a seat next to Chris. He ordered a drink before noticing that they had all fallen silent, and asked: "What?"

"Oh, hi Doctor Fleischman," Ed grinned. "Chris is having a bit of trouble when it comes to women."

"Why, what happened?"

"I basically asked a lesbian for sex," mumbled Chris into his glass.

"Whoa, okay, that is a bit of trouble. Why don't you practice on O'Connell? I'm sure that's all you need – practice."

"What?" cried Maggie, outraged. "Fleischman, how could you just –"

"That, amazingly enough, was a joke, O'Connell."

"So who was the lesbian you hit on?" Maggie asked Chris.

He sighed. "Gwen."

Fleischman and O'Connell both spat out their drinks. When they got over their surprise they started laughing, and didn't stop.

"I think they knew all along," Ed whispered in Chris's ear.

Over the radio they heard a voice saying, "And that was dedicated to our good friend Chris Stevens, who made a funny mistake this evening, but all is forgiven."

"See, Chris? Everything's okay."

"Yes, it is. I would like to propose a toast to Gwen Adams," he said, raising his glass.

"To Gwen," his companions chorused, clinking glasses.


End file.
